Molded resinous article and process of making the same



Patented Apr. 30, 1940. I I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOLDED RESINOUS-ARTICLE AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME Edward RrDillehay, Glen Ellyn, Ill., assignor to The Richardson Company, Lockiand, Ohio, a corporation oi Ohio N Drawing- Application January 12, 1937, Serial No. 120,320

9 Claims. (01. 154-2) My invention is addressed to the problem of advanced or polymerized to the same stage as a making molded products in which the binder resin intended for alcohol solution. When the is a synthetic or condensation resin, but which resin is in the early stages of reaction and has not products are not subject to dimensional changes, advanced to such a high molecular weight, it is e. g. swelling on account of moisture conditions. still soluble in water and may be used in a water While not so limited, y ve n, o the pursolution giving a saturating material of far less pose of making an exemplary showing, will be viscosity than is usual in the alcohol type of described in connection with the manufacture resin.

of laminated molded products from stocks satu- However, more generally, the practice in prerated with synthetic condensation resin of the paring resinous varnish is to advance the resin 10 phenol a d hyde t p to a medium stage and then use as a solvent a e e a yl e n d s y W e & meldcombination of water and alcohol. This combi- Bd p et t s ject to d ens nal Ch is nation seems to give nearly as low a viscosity as desirable- Or a p e, n bearings or gaske s a straight water type varnish, provided as much B s glands nte ded or use under eondias 30 to 40 per cent of water is used. Eitherof tions subjecting them to Wa er. Steam the like, the water type varnishes to which I have referred, es 01' dimensions e to t s conditions has a much lower viscosity than the alcohol types y render the partsuns i f for serviceof varnish; and the water wets and penetrates y a mater al not subject to dimensional the sheet and possibly the fibers. to a greater-ex- Bhflnge, I mean 0f a material which from tent and therefore appears to give a much better the commercial or practical standpoint will not jmpregnatlon be ffec d y ex rn nd ons sufliciently o There are certain disadvantages, of course, in produce dimensional changes of important charusing water type of varnish, For one "thing, wh n A molded product which, when boiled i many fibrous materials are greatly weakened a would swell is third as much, 011 less than when wet and for some uses therefore, with water 25.

:he amount of swelling in ordinary laminated type netrating varnishes, the ordinary saturatproducts under the Same conditions, would be ing machine cannot always be used and an apzonsidered an excellent material of this type. paratus known as a w ld n machine may be It has been known that molded products are emp1oyed-to tt advantage In this type of not satisfactory from the standpoint of dimenmachine a conveyor is provided hi h carries an lional constancy under varying external condithe material through t hm :ions, and attempts have been madeto improve As I have indicated, water type penetrating I inch Products The art has believed that a great varnishes are not new, and molded laminated aart of dimensional chan es due to moisture and products have been made th refr m which Show ;he like. was the result of the lack of penetration a great imhmvement in dimensional constancy 1r covering of the,iibrous materials in the comover materials made with alcohol types of :osition by the binder thereof. Consequently, nish However, these products have possessed lttempts have been made to Produce binder Sub", only about half the tensile strength and impact "59111063 having greater penetrating mwer- These strength of the conventional material made with l 1 mb'stances have been classifiable as water type alcohol type varnish; and it has also been found 40 :enetrative varnishes. The so-called. varnishes quiterdimcult to chhtrol th manufa t r f the ;hat are commonly used for saturated paper are product so as t he u of roducing good 1 1 node from resins which ar dissolved n ination, due to the very fast type of varnish emllCOl'lOl solution, suiiicient alcohol being used to I p1oyed The products alsqhavevexhibited a tend 'educe the solution to a very low viscosity, so ency toward brittleness I hat the material W l penetrate o the sheet- It is a fundamental object of my invention l'hls p of Varnish has the advantage to'produce a material having the property of :reatly w a e paper s that almost dimensional constancy, but, not" subject to the hiclmess or S rength of W b can e pulled disadvantages of the products heretofore made. hroush the saturating p w hou a reat deal It is also a primary object of my invention to so if diiliculty from breakage. It will 'be underprovide a novel method of making a molded prodtood of course, that the resin-at this stage is in net not {subject to dimensional change, the

in incompletely polymerized condition. 4 method not involving the operating difliculties Water type penetratingvarnish is made from hereinabove pointed out, but producing an im-- he same types'of resins, excepting that it is not provedproduct. These and other objects of my I carry on the saturation in a plurality of stages instead of one stage. In an exemplary procedure, using the conventional saturating machine,

I treat a web to be'saturated first with a water type penetrating varnish but to the extent of saturating into the material only about 20 to 30 percent of the desired resin content. I then 'give the product a second treatment with an alcohol type resinous varnish to the extent of bringing the total resin contact of the stock up to say to per cent.

The stock will be dried intermediate the two treatments. I have found that by the use of a shortened treatment with water type penetrating varnish, followed by a treatment with the alcohol type varnish, that I can make a material almost as strong by impact and tensile tests as conventional laminated products made with alcohol type resins, while securing resistance to dimensional changes about equal to that of products made with the water type penetrating varnishes only. It will be understood that the material need not be treated for a shorter length of time 7 in the water varnish, since the varnish may be diluted, if desired, so as to give the lower resin content.

My new products do not present the danger of poor laminating between the layers and have much less tendency toward delamination in manufacture and use. Moreover, the material while being treated with the water type penetrating varnish is much less sensitive than it would be if an attempt were made to introduce the total desired quantities of-resinous binder from a water type varnish. Thus the process, while involving an extra step, nevertheless becomes much easier and much less delicate than prior procedures and produces an end product which is superior to any products heretofore made.

Either the treatment of the product with the water type penetrating varnish is sufiicient to produce the desired penetration for resistance to chemical change, or it produces an incipient penetration which is brought to completion during the treatment of the product with the alcohol type varnish. Where other materials are desired in the fabric such, for example as the exceedingly finely divided graphite to which the co-pending application Serial Number 93,449 filed July 30, 1936 of Louis T. Frederick relates, such materials may be introduced into the sheet in either or both stages of the saturation procedure by being mixed with the several varnishes involved. In the manufacture of molded products of laminated character, I may of course, use paper webs and their equivalents or cloth webs and their equivalents as will be clear. Also my teachings may be applied to the saturation of fibrous or cord-like stocks of varying character which are not in themselves in the form of sheets or webs. Nor aniI limited to two stages only in The stages may be multiplied as desired. In the practice of my invention, for the making of completed molded articles, the saturated stocks are, of course, pieced together and pressed and cured under heat and great pressure as in the ordinary way of making such products.

In the claims which follow the terms "water type penetrating resinous varnishes, water type penetrating varnis are to be taken to Imean a solution of incompletely polymerized 3 resin in water or in a mixture of water and alcohol, the said solution having a relatively low viscosity, as defined on page 1 of this specification. The terms alcohol type varnishes, alcohol type resinous varnishes, alcohol varnish are to be 1 taken to mean a solution of incompletely polymerization dissolved in alcohol as defined on page 1, of this specification, said solution having a relatively higher viscosity.

Modifications may be made in my invention 1 without departing from the spirit of it.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In the manufacture of resinous stocks characterized by resistance to dimensional changes, the steps of saturating said stocks first with a solution of resin in water and then with a solution of resin in alcohol alone, in successive stages in the order named.

stock through a solution of resin in alcohol alone,

to bring the resinous content up to the desired total content. v

3. A process of producing saturated resinous stocks for pressing and curing, which comprises leading a stock successively first through a saturating bath of a solution of resin in water, while controlling the said step to prevent the weakening of the stock and to limit the, amount of resin so introduced, and thereafter leading the stock through a solution of resin in alcohol alone to bring the resinouscontent thereof up to the desired value.

4. A process of making pressed and cure articles which comprisesintroducing into a fibrous stock in successive increments in the order named, an incompletely polymerized resin derived from a solution thereof in waterQand an incompletely polymerized resin derived from a solution thereof in alcohol alone, and pressing and curing the treated stock thus formed. 7 5. A process of'making a pressedand cured laminated resinous article which comprises leading a fibrous stock successively through a bath which is a solution of resin in water, and thereafter leading said stock through a. bath which is a solution of resin in alcohol alone, then laminating layers of the said stock and pressing and curing the article thus formed.

6. A resinous stock for pressing and curing,

comprising a fibrous base which contains an increment of resin derived from a solution of resin in water, said increment having primary association with the fibers of said base, and an increment of resin derived from a solution of resin in alcohol alone, said last mentioned increment having secondary --association with the 'fibersof said base.

the manufacture of products herein described. 7. A molded resinous article of laminated character containing laminations oi fibrous material, which laminations contain each an increment of resin derived from a water solution 01 resin, said increment being in primary association with the fibers of said lamination, and an increment of resin derived irom a solution of resin in alcohol alone, said last mentioned increment of resin being in secondary association with the fibers of said lamination.

8. An article as claimed in claim 7 in which the said several increments of resin are substantially equal in amount.

9. A process of making resinous stocks suitable for pressing and curing, which comprises treating fibrous stocks successively first with a water solution of resin, second drying said stocks, third treating said stocks with a solution of resin in alcohol alone, and fourth drying said stocks.

EDWARD a. DILLEHAY. 

